The intended purpose of public disclosure should be made clear to all stakeholders

Public disclosure should be seen as an evolutionary process, becoming progressively more sophisticated and comprehensive over time

Public disclosure should be seen as one component of clinical governance

Provider organisations should be a key audience for information about performance

The financial cost of implementing a national policy on public disclosure is likely to be significant and should be considered alongside the benefits

Specific educational initiatives for target audiences should be implemented alongside public disclosure

Health professionals and their representative bodies should be fully involved in the process of public disclosure

Both process and outcome measures of quality should be published

Outcome indicators must be risk adjusted

Public disclosure should be accompanied by a strategy for monitoring the benefits and any unintended consequences

Public disclosure should be accompanied by possible explanations for the variations reported

A research and development programme focusing on the generation and evaluation of public performance data should be supported by the NHS R&D directorate